This type of meal differs from eating out in a restaurant due to its limited menu. This sounds like a bit of a disadvantage, but the fact is that the menu is limited because normally they bring you everything they make...
These meals are so large that unfit stomachs can have problems finding space for all this food, but with a little practice, it soon comes easy to anyone.
It also happens to be one of the best ways of getting to know the local cuisine in its authentic version, since these trattorie are usually family run and rely on recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation.
A typical lunch at a trattoria goes something like this:
- If the weather is nice, you may very well be seated outside.
- The ambience is relaxed, nobody is in a rush to go anywhere, and if you have any hope of actually finishing the meal, keep in mind that this is most likely to take you something like three to four hours.
- Once everyone has wine and water and any other drinks, the starters are served. Usually there are two or three starters served one after the other. Typical starters around here could be carpaccio with grated parmesan cheese and rucola salad; or fried focaccette with soft, runny stracchino cheese inside.
- Then comes the main course... well, the main courses, since there are usually at least two main courses: trofie pasta with the original fresh basil pesto alla Genovese, or pansoti, a local kind of ravioli, with a "secret" herb filling and walnut sauce, just to name two of the possibilities.
- By this point, I assure you, you will think the meal is coming to an end. Or that your belly is about to burst. Portions are usually generous. Take some time to breath, have some more wine to wash it all down, and then brace yourself for the rest because you're only at the halfway mark!
- Then they serve the second course. Again, two second courses is usually the minimum, typical examples are: stewed wild boar (cinghiale) with potatoes; wild rabbit (coniglio)with pine kernels and olives; or fritto misto, which will change depending on the area, and can be in the mountain version or the seafood version, each containing a number of different ingredients, all served fried in batter and often hard to recognise until you taste them.
- Once the dishes from the second courses have been cleared, you start to feel quite drowsy.
- For dessert, there is usually some form of gelato (Italian ice-cream), maybe served with fresh strawberries, tiramisù, or fruit salad, just to name some of the alternatives.
- After that, an espresso followed by the local limoncello liqueur (or any other of the "digestive" liqueurs to be found behind the bar counter) gets your heart racing like you've been running a marathon.
